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PRESS
RELEASE --- For Immediate Release
PAX
CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL
SUPPORTS
FRENCH-GERMAN PLAN FOR
IRAQ
As
tensions increase over the threat of military action in
Iraq
, the international Catholic peace movement repeated
its strong support for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the crisis.
In a letter addressed to U.N. general secretary Kofi Annan and to U.N.
ambassador Gunter Pleuger of
Germany
, Pax Christi International expressed support for a
Franco-German plan to disarm
Iraq
. Pleuger is president of the U. N. Security Council
for the month of February.
The
plan would include reconnaissance flights, sharply increasing the number
of weapons inspectors and the creation of a no-fly zone over the entire
country. Pax Christi believes the strategy would pacify any
potential Iraqi threat to world security while giving the U.N.-mandated
weapons inspection process sufficient time to ensure the complete and
comprehensive removal of all weapons of mass destruction from Iraqi
territory. Chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed El-Baradei are
expected to brief the Security Council on Friday.
Pax
Christi member organisations will participate in mass anti-war
demonstrations that are planned for Saturday in many countries around the
world. Even conservative estimates point to widespread devastation for the
Iraqi civilian population in the event of war as well as to the prospect
of a widening conflagration affecting the entire region for years to come.
Noting
the ease with which a military solution has been presented as unavoidable,
the organisation rejected the notion that all other means have been
exhausted. “[Inspectors] should be given the time and support they
need to complete their work and to ensure monitored dismantlement of any
weapons of mass destruction that they may find,” urged Etienne De Jonghe,
Pax Christi’s international secretary. In addition to strengthening the
inspection process, the organisation proposed a tighter military embargo
and more focused economic sanctions that do not threaten the lives of
innocent Iraqi civilians. “
Iraq
can thus be disarmed without the risks and costs of
war,” said De Jonghe.
Started
after the Second World War to foster healing and reconciliation in
Europe
, Pax Christi International is a non-governmental
Catholic peace movement active worldwide. Pax Christi International
works on many issues related to security and disarmament, human rights,
peace education, economic justice and conflict resolution. See copy of the
letter in attachment.
Brussels
,
13 February 2003
Attachment
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